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Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Wikipedia Begging


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A beggar in 1880s Tehran, photographed by Antoin Sevruguin
Begging (also panhandling or mendicancy) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggarpanhandler, or mendicant. Street beggars may be found in public places such as transport routes, urban parks, and near busy markets. Besides money, they may also ask for food, drink, cigarettes or other small items.
Internet begging is the modern practice of asking people to give money to others over the internet, rather than in person. Internet begging is usually targeted at people who are acquainted with the beggar, but it may be advertised to strangers. Internet begging encompasses requests for help meeting basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter, as well as requests for people to pay for vacationsschool trips, and other things that the beggar wants but can't comfortably afford.


A beggar in Uppsala, Sweden. June 2014.


Ancient Greeks distinguished between the penes (Greek: ποινής, "active poor") and the ptochos (Greek: πτωχός, "passive poor"). The penes was somebody with a job, only not enough to make a living, while the ptochosdepended on others entirely. The working poor were accorded a higher social status.[1] The New Testament contains several references to Jesus' status as the savior of the ptochos, usually translated as "the poor", considered the most wretched portion of society.



In India[edit]

A street beggar in India gets into a car
Begging is an age old social phenomenon in India. In the medieval and earlier times begging was considered to be an acceptable occupation which was embraced within the traditional social structure.[3] This system of begging and alms-giving to mendicants and the poor is still widely practiced in India, with over 400,000 beggars in 2015.[4]
In contemporary India, beggars are often stigmatized as undeserving. People often believe that beggars are not destitute and instead call them professional beggars.[vague][5][better source needed] There is a wide perception of begging scams.[6] This view is refuted by grassroots research organizations such as Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan, which claim that beggars and other homeless people are overwhelmingly destitute and vulnerable. Their studies indicate that 99 percent men and 97 percent women resort to beggary due to abject poverty, distress migration from rural villages and the unavailability of employment.[7]

Religious begging[edit]

A mendicant outside ‘Kalkaji Mandir’ in Delhi, India
Many religions have prescribed begging as the only acceptable means of support for certain classes of adherents, including HinduismSufismBuddhism, and typically to provide a way for certain adherents to focus exclusively on spiritual development without the possibility of becoming caught up in worldly affairs.
Religious ideals of ‘Bhiksha’ in Hinduism ,‘Charity’ in Christianity besides others promote alms-giving.[8] This obligation of making gifts to God by alms-giving explains the occurrence of generous donations outside religious sites like temples and mosques to mendicants begging in the name of God.
Tzedakah plays a central role in Judaism. According to the Torah, Jews are obligated to contribute 10% of their income as tithes, which also can include giving to the poor.
In Buddhismmonks and nuns traditionally live by begging for alms, as done by the historical Gautama Buddha himself. This is, among other reasons, so that Laity can gain religious merit by giving food, medicines, and other essential items to the monks. The monks seldom need to plead for food; in villages and towns throughout modern MyanmarThailandCambodiaVietnam, and other Buddhist countries, householders can often be found at dawn every morning streaming down the road to the local temple to give food to the monks. In East Asia, monks and nuns were expected to farm or work for returns to feed themselves.[9][10][11]

Legal restrictions[edit]

A kindness meter in downtown Ottawa, OntarioCanada. The meter accepts donations for charitable efforts to help the poor as part of an official effort to discourage panhandling.
Begging has been restricted or prohibited at various times and for various reasons, typically revolving around a desire to preserve public order or to induce people to work rather than to beg for economic or moral reasons. Various European poor laws prohibited or regulated begging from the Renaissance to modern times, with varying levels of effectiveness and enforcement. Similar laws were adopted by many developing countries such as India.


Each State and Territory has individual laws regarding begging and panhandling.
In South Australia, begging for alms is illegal, and may bring a maximum penalty of $250. This legislation is outlined in the Summary Offences Act 1953 - Section 12 [14]


There is no nationwide ban but it is illegal in several federal states.[15]


The province of Ontario introduced its Safe Streets Act in 1999 to restrict specific kinds of begging, particularly certain narrowly defined cases of "aggressive" or abusive begging.[16] In 2001 this law survived a court challenge under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[17] The law was further upheld by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in January 2007.[18]


Begging in China is illegal if:
  • Coercing, decoying or utilizing others to beg;

Ming China[edit]

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty many farmers and unemployed laborers in Beijing were forced to beg to survive.[20] Begging was especially difficult during Ming times due to high taxes that limited the disposable income of most individuals.[21] Beijing's harsh winters were a difficult challenge for beggars. To avoid freezing to death, some beggars paid porters one copper coin to sleep in their warehouse for the night. Others turned to burying themselves in manure and eating arsenic to avoid the pain of the cold. Thousands of beggars died of poison and exposure to the elements every year.[20]
Begging was some people's primary occupation. A Qing Dynasty source describes that "professional beggars" were not considered to be destitute, and as such were not allowed to receive government relief, such as food rations, clothing, and shelter.[22] Beggars would often perform or train animals to perform to earn coins from passerby.[21] Although beggars were of low status in Ming, they were considered to have higher social standing over prostitutes, entertainers, runners, and soldiers.[23]






A law against begging ended in 1994 but begging with aggressive animals or children is still outlawed.[15]


A woman begging at traffic lights in Patras, Greece.
Under article 407 of the Greek Penal Code, begging was punishable by up to 6 months in jail and up to a 3000 euro fine. However, this law was repelled in November 2018, after protests from street musicians in the city of Thessaloniki. [15]


Hungary has a nationwide ban. This may include stricter related laws in cities such as Budapest, which prohibits picking things from rubbish bins.[15]


Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan and People's Union of Civil Liberties, PUCL have critiqued this Act and advocated for its repeal.[27] Section 2(1) of the BPBA broadly defines ‘beggars’ as those individuals who directly solicit alms as well as those who have no visible means of subsistence and are found wandering around as beggars. Therefore, during the implementation of this law the homeless are often mistaken as beggars.[7] Beggar homes, which are meant to provide vocational training, have been often found to have abysmal living conditions.[27]


Begging with children or animals is forbidden but the law is not enforced.[15]


Buddhist monks appear in public when begging for alms.[28] Although homelessness in Japan is common, such people rarely beg.




The Singing Beggars by Russian painter Ivan Yermenyov c. 1775






In a 1786 James Gillraycaricature, the plentiful money bags handed to King George III are contrasted with the beggar whose legs and arms were amputated, in the left corner

England & Wales[edit]

Begging is illegal under the Vagrancy Act of 1824. However it does not carry a jail sentence and is not well enforced in many cities,[33] although since the Act applies in all public places it is enforced more frequently on public transport.

United States[edit]

In parts of San Francisco, California, aggressive panhandling is prohibited.[34]
U. S. Courts have repeatedly ruled that begging is protected by the First Amendment's free speech provisions. On August 14, 2013, the U. S. Court of Appeals struck down a Grand Rapids, Michigan anti-begging law on free speech grounds.[36] An Arcata, California law banning panhandling within twenty feet of stores was struck down on similar grounds in 2012.[37]

Use of funds[edit]

A beggar in Denver, USA in 2018.
A man holding a sign using self-deprecating humor for begging
In North America, panhandling money is widely reported to support substance abuse and other addictions. For example, outreach workers in downtown Winnipeg, ManitobaCanada, surveyed that city's panhandling community and determined that approximately three-quarters use some of the donated money to buy tobacco products, while two-thirds buy solvents or alcohol.[40] In Midtown Manhattan, one outreach worker anecdotally commented to the New York Times that substance abuse accounts for 90 percent of panhandling funds.[41] This, too, may not be representative since outreach workers work with those with abuse problems.[citation needed]

Communities reducing street begging[edit]

Please do not Encourage the Beggars Sarahan, India
Because of concerns that people begging on the street may use the money to support alcohol or drug abuse, some advise those wishing to give to beggars to give gift cards or vouchers for food or services, and not cash.[40][42][43][44][45][46] Some shelters also offer business cards with information on the shelter's location and services, which can be given in lieu of cash.[47] This has been criticised since there are typically far fewer shelter beds than people in need.

Notable beggars[edit]

See also[edit]

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